June 29, 2008

Should we educate
or engage the consumer? Last year I
wrote a post called Educating the consumer because it is
a phrase so often used in agricultural circles. I have been revisiting my
thoughts at the time and also a post I wrote a few weeks ago – consumers
don’t like being told what to eat. The phrase “educate the consumer” presupposes
that the person doing the providing/selling knows best. Does a paternalistic
approach actually engage the consumer ... “Buy this because we say so...” I don’t
think it does – so how do we engage the consumer to purchase what we are
selling?

Anita Roddick once said that “Consumers
have not been told effectively enough that they have huge power and that
purchasing and shopping involve a moral choice”. How do we “tell” without lecturing,
inform without “educating” and engage without browbeating? I think it is all
about the language and the tone and communicating that purchasing decisions are
often made within a moral framework.

June 28, 2008

Where can
young or not so young people in the industry find independent and appropriate
advice and support?

One year
later I am still asking myself those questions. If you are a young farmer going
into the industry where can you access knowledge and experience to stop you “re-inventing”
the wheel? I have always been an advocate of The Princes Trust and how they help
young people starting out with a business, hoping to develop a community
project or just seeking to get back into work. Maybe they could have a role?

The Fresh
Start Initiative that aims to offer assistance to those developing new
farming businesses and is a college based scheme. and has moved a long way in twelve months. However, I feel that we also need to
have a network of facilitators that can help to set up farming discussion
groups/continuous learning groups. These groups would be practical, informal, hands-on
and self-driven. Discussion groups are springing up in all regions of the country,
but it would be good to have a network of people that can help start the groups
and work with them to set the foundations. Perhaps Defra would provide initial funding for such a project?

June 27, 2008

Transparency International have published a report on Corruption in the Water Sector. This is a very interesting report which highlights that over 1 billion people live with inadequate access to safe drinking water. The report argues that corruption is both a cause and also a catalyst for current and future water crises within water resources management, drinking water services, irrigation and production of hydropower. Do check it out.

June 26, 2008

The CIEH has reported that the UK has one of the worst rates of salmonella contamination of slaughtered pigs in
the EU. The study identified that 21% of UK pigs carried the pathogen
compared with an EU average of 10 per cent. In fact, only Spain (29%), Greece (25%), Luxembourg (22%) and Portugal (23%) had worse levels of contamination.

June 25, 2008

After my visit to the US to study water issues I read this article by Reuters with interest. $1.7 billion is a lot of social capital to purchase land in the Everglades. U.S. Sugar Corp., will sell its Florida sugar plantations totalling over 187,000 acres (75,680 hectares) of farmland to the state to assist its
efforts to restore the Everglades. Follow the link for more details.

June 24, 2008

It is now nearly two weeks since I first wrote a post about Salmonella and Tomatoes. In the fortnight the number of confirmed cases continues to increase. 613 people have now been shown to be linked to this outbreak and there are probably hundreds if not thousands more who have been unwell and not been formally identified. The CDC confirm that only 3 people were identified as having been infected with this strain of Salmonella during the same period in 2007.

There have been no reports as to the source or indeed cause of the contamination - but the problem for consumers appears to be geographically widespread. Whilst investigations continue there will be the ongoing discussions over traceability or "trace-back" in the supply chain and whether the cost of implementing robust systems outweighs, or not, the net benefit to organisations and consumers. However ultimately the food supply chain and food brands rely totally on consumer trust and confidence.

Abraham Lincoln once said that "if once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem." I think this is particularly true with regard to food safety and brand value. Maybe with the ongoing focus on food safety issues more global food businesses will see traceability as a valuable asset and a means to manage, maintain and enhance brand value.

June 21, 2008

As I have written before I was privileged to have been awarded a Nuffield Scholarship to study water and spent part of my time in California. Therefore I read with interest the report in the Guardian about the use of silver iodide to boost rainfall in Los Angeles. Silver iodide can be used to increase rainfall in a particular area although the impact, as with all natural processes, can be difficult to scientifically quantify. The silver iodide is seeded into the clouds and this process is undertaken in several parts of the Western States of America. However, the process raises an issue - if you induce rainfall in one area are you denying others from accessing the water that otherwise would have fallen as rainfall (or snow) naturally somewhere else? The answer is probably yes .. but as the demand for water increases in many regions of the world this practice is likely to increase too. However there is huge potential for conflict between communities where one of those communities feels denied and disadvantaged as a result of actions taken by another. It will be interesting to see how this issue which has such a human imprint develops.

BBC News reports that sections of the Murray-Darling river basin will be beyond the point of recovery unless they receive water by October according to an expert panel report. The report expresses concern over the loss of fish species, vegetation and wetland areas. Follow the link to find out more.